Tuesday, May 13, 2008

When in doubt, throw it out...

I was going to make Pioneer Woman's shrimp kabobs for dinner on Saturday, but the shrimp were still frozen. Then Sunday was mother's day, and BJ didn't feel well, so we just had frozen pizza. So, I cleaned them and put them in the marinade, and figured I'd make them Monday.

On Monday I got them out of the fridge and they smelled like teriyaki. I skewered them with the pineapple chunks - not as easy as P-Dub made it look, because my skewers were too big - and put them on the grill.

When I they were on the grill, something smelled extremely off. But I don't have a lot of experience with shrimp, especially raw shrimp, so I thought, "Ok, it'll be all right when they're done..."

When I carried them inside, the smell got stronger. A lot stronger. And a little nauseating. I called my mom.

"Is this the seafood safety hotline?" I asked."Yeah, what's the matter?" She knows me well."I have this shrimp, and they smell fishy. Not good fishy, either, but like Lake Michigan after the alewives all commit suicide on the beach fishy. What do you think?""Oh, honey. You can get so sick from bad seafood. When in doubt, throw it out.""Really? But I worked so hard, and they're pretty, and do you really think that they're bad?""Is it worth getting sick over?"Reluctantly, I said, "No...""When in doubt, throw it out."*sigh*

Luckily, Dad took us out for dinner. Boy, was I disappointed, though. Clearly I am not a Pioneer Woman. Luckily, I have my very own Pioneer Mom I can call whenever I need help.

I'm not a sea-food guru by any means...I grew up not far from you, Amy! Since we've been down in the Sunshine state, I've learned a couple of rules about seafood. It shouldn't smell like anything. That tells you it's fresh. Either freeze it or keep it on ice in your fridge. And my rule of thumb is cook it the day you buy it. With other meat, you've got some leeway, but not with seafood.

My questionable food story is this: about a year ago, Matt was rummaging through the fridge and decided to make himself a quesadilla. The quesadilla was fine, but the sour cream was questionable. We were about a week or two from the sell by date and Matt said he thought it was okay. I didn't touch the stuff. Sure enough 12 hours later in the early morning, he was worshipping the porcelain goddess. So he stayed home with Katelynn, although I had offered to take her to daycare for him.

He has learned his lesson. He's now pretty strict about paying attention to the dates on food.

Aren't Pioneer Moms great? ha ha! I can't count how many times I've called my mom with a question just like that one. Can't think of a story off the bat, but I'm sure it's just because there have been so many that my brain can't file through them all to come up with just one. :-)